Tag: boat building academy

BBA students launch racy Wolstenholme Mallard dinghy

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andrew wolstenholme , boat building academy , dinghy , dominic frankis , epo,y ply , glued clinker , Lyme , mallard , mallard dinghy , steve bramley , students

andrew wolstenholme , boat building academy , dinghy , dominic frankis , epo,y ply , glued clinker , Lyme , mallard , mallard dinghy , steve bramley , students andrew wolstenholme , boat building academy , dinghy , dominic frankis , epo,y ply , glued clinker , Lyme , mallard , mallard dinghy , steve bramley , students

Another boat launched at Lyme Regis Harbour by Boat Building Academy students this summer was an Andrew Wolstenholme-designed 12ft 5in glued clinker Mallard dinghy.

Named Born Slippy, she was built by Dominic Frankis and Steve Bramley, along with other students.

Dominic took a sabbatical from work in London as a management consultant in the health sector. He’s never sailed before but now has no excuse. Now back behind his desk, he also says it’s only a matter of time before he’ll be boatbuilding again.

Steve worked as a tree surgeon and builder before joining the course, and is now using the skills he gained on the course to renovate a house.

The Mallard should prove to be a lot of fun; the rigging is more modern than is usually employed on these Mallard dinghies, which the Boat Building Academy folks say makes it quite a racy little sail boat.

BBA student to build replica of Dorset crab and lobster fishing boat Witch of Worbarrow

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Witch of Worbarrow Dorset crab and lobster fishing boat

Witch of Worbarrow

A student at the Boat Building Academy is appealing for information and old photos relating to the Witch of Worbarrow, built in Weymouth in around 1902.

Student Ian Baird is building a replica of the rare Dorset crab and lobster fishing boat as part of his 38-week boat building training.

Now in the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, the original boat was rowed from Weymouth to Worbarrow Bay by Jack and Tom Miller, where it worked the crab and lobster grounds for many years, before becoming a gaff-rigged pleasure boat. In 1979 she was bequeathed to the National Maritime Museum by her late owner, Philip Draper of Arne, near Wareham. She is of historical interest because she is believed to be the only boat of her type still surviving.

Ian says that he wanted to build something that was unusual and local to his home county of Dorset. Recreating Witch of Worbarrow offers just that opportunity, and he wants to know much more about her history and the people who worked in her.

‘Apart from her life in Weymouth Bay and Poole Harbour we also know that she spent some time in Southampton Water or the Solent as there are old pictures of her close to the bows of the Queen Mary at Southampton,’ he says.

The project has attracted great interest from the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, which is planning to put the new boat on display alongside the original. The museum’s interest is that the original Witch is far too old to put on the water: ‘We don’t really know how she would have behaved on the water,’ says curator of boats Andy Wyke. ‘Ian’s reconstruction of the boat, which will follow as closely as possible to the original, will help us to learn a great deal about this historic fishing boat.’

BBA students build a clinker YW Dayboat

14ft Yachting World Dayboat 14ft Yachting World Dayboat

14ft Yachting World Dayboat

Yachting World Dayboat Tailwind – first three photos thanks to Jenny Steer, the final one thanks to Tracey Marler

Six months at the Boat Building Academy gave Lachlan (Locky) McKenzie enough time to build a Yachting World Day Boat with help from fellow students Tom Trevessey and Tim Price.

The traditional clinker build began in January 2010 after the initial foundation carpentry and joinery phase of the 38-week course. Locky chose the design because he is a keen dinghy sailor, and intends sailing her competitively.

Tailwind is spruce planked on a mahogany backbone, case, thwarts and frames with oak timbers. Locky has great hopes that his wooden boat will perform well against her plastic opponents when he races her out of Bosham – although he says she’s faster than the crew so anything is possible.

Instructor Justin Adkin modified the plank lines to allow better water flow around the hull, and altered the deck structure and layout, incorporating five full frames, to stiffen the hull and allow it to be tensioned up in a similar way to a Salcombe Yawl.  A photodiary of the build can be seen on the BBA website.

Tom, from Cheltenham, and Tim, originally from South Africa, shared the main work on the build. Tim, who is a Maritime and Coastguard Agency Master of Yachts, has worked as crew, a water taxi, sailing instructor and in yacht delivery, and straight after the BBA course he started work at the Elephant Boatyard at Southampton. Tom, who joined the course because he wants to work in the marine industry, is heading off to New Zealand some time before the end of the year.

Locky’s Yachting World Day Boat has attracted a lot of attention, not just because it is a return to traditional wooden construction for the class, but also because of its beauty; the elegant decking and combing make great finishing touches.